#10The Igloo (Mellon Arena) With the closing of Yankee Stadium, Jeff Gordon looks at the top 10 remaining old-school venues in sports.

Mellon Arena is pretty much a dump. Pittsburgh must replace it with a modern facility to keep the Penguins from fleeing to a sparkling new arena in, say, Kansas City. But the Igloo is a cozy, quirky dump. Its retractable roof was way ahead of its time, but not terribly practical, as it turned out. Seating expansion and suite additions gave the arena bowl a pleasantly haphazard feel. The building is short on amenities but long on atmosphere, especially when the Penguins are "running around" on their home ice. This is the last of the old NHL barns; more storied rinks like Chicago Stadium, Boston Garden, The Aud, The Checkerdome, Montreal Forum and Maple Leaf Gardens are long gone. Much of the colorful fan behavior is gone, too. Attending pro hockey games is not the adventure it once was. And that's too bad.

Last edited by PenguinSteve-o on Thu Sep 25, 2008 3:13 pm, edited 1 time in total.

PenguinSteve-o wrote:thats a good question. the writer seems retarded to me actually or found these articles he wrote a few years ago. The Kansas city comment made me wonder but its on the front page of MSN.com right now.

My guess is that they just pieced together an old story to accommodate the Yankee Stadium news. If it's "fresh," the writer is retarded.

Has anyone been to the Excel energy center? I remember Mario and Sawyer being there and said they wanted the seating for the new arena to be laid out like it is there. From what I gather the fans are really on top of the ice. I mean REALLY close.

If that is the case, then you can have it both ways. Seating and noise of an old school building but modernized for the economics of today.

I really would like to hear from someone who has been in that place to give a report.

Honestly, Mellon is a dump inside. But, I would rather be in that dump than any other NHL arena. I don't mind standing at a trough urinal or trying to fit around people going through the cramped hallways to their seats. It is the home of the PENGUINS and the arena will always hold a special place in my heart.

That said.... I don't want to stand at a trough urinal at the new arena. Please give me a little bit better.

eastonpensfan wrote:Honestly, Mellon is a dump inside. But, I would rather be in that dump than any other NHL arena. I don't mind standing at a trough urinal or trying to fit around people going through the cramped hallways to their seats. It is the home of the PENGUINS and the arena will always hold a special place in my heart.

That said.... I don't want to stand at a trough urinal at the new arena. Please give me a little bit better.

The trough urinals always make me laugh. My gf couldn't believe it when I told her that the men's room had trough urinals there. She didn't think anything like that even existed and was completely grossed out by it.

mellon arena is awesome but its time for a change. we need better bathrooms, hallways, consessions, seats, views, parking lots/buildings, stores, etc. I cant wait, but i looked at the lot of where its going and its hard to imagine a huge arena there.

what about all the businesses right on the street by the superbowl, etc? wonder if they will remain or new places put in there.

eastonpensfan wrote:Honestly, Mellon is a dump inside. But, I would rather be in that dump than any other NHL arena. I don't mind standing at a trough urinal or trying to fit around people going through the cramped hallways to their seats. It is the home of the PENGUINS and the arena will always hold a special place in my heart.

That said.... I don't want to stand at a trough urinal at the new arena. Please give me a little bit better.

The trough urinals always make me laugh. My gf couldn't believe it when I told her that the men's room had trough urinals there. She didn't think anything like that even existed and was completely grossed out by it.

If I ever build my own house I'm going to put a trough urinal somewhere in it.

eastonpensfan wrote:Honestly, Mellon is a dump inside. But, I would rather be in that dump than any other NHL arena. I don't mind standing at a trough urinal or trying to fit around people going through the cramped hallways to their seats. It is the home of the PENGUINS and the arena will always hold a special place in my heart.

That said.... I don't want to stand at a trough urinal at the new arena. Please give me a little bit better.

The trough urinals always make me laugh. My gf couldn't believe it when I told her that the men's room had trough urinals there. She didn't think anything like that even existed and was completely grossed out by it.

If I ever build my own house I'm going to put a trough urinal somewhere in it.

It doesn't have the same creepy effect if there's only one person at a time using it.